The present invention relates generally to the field of networked control and monitoring systems, such as those used in industrial automation applications. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique for conducting real time monitoring operations in a control and monitoring system, to display information for a user based upon data collected in real time and descriptive of both operational parameters and particular components and their individual configurations.
A wide range of systems are known and have been developed for conducting local and remote monitoring operations in industrial control applications. In conventional systems, gages, meters, and the like were situated at specific locations corresponding to loads to which electrical power was applied. Such loads might include electric motors, valves, actuators, and so forth. Data is collected from the monitoring equipment by visual inspection. Such monitoring devices have also traditionally been provided in centralized control rooms where operators or technicians periodically inspect key parameter levels, typically visually.
Increasingly, industrial control systems have been networked to provide for a wide variety of remote sensing and control functionalities. Networked components can be actuated remotely, and sensed parameters can be accessed and downloaded to monitoring and control stations. However, such systems still typically rely upon dedicated readout devices which are adapted to provide visual indications of parameter levels, with little or no configurability for the various components of the networked system. For more advanced systems which may have allowed for monitoring of a number of different components, prior knowledge of the component location, the component function, the component type, the component settings, and so forth were generally needed to adequately access and evaluate sensed parameter signals or operational status feedback.
There is a need in the field for improved techniques for remotely monitoring a plurality of components in a networked system in real time. There is a particular need, at present, for a system which provides a straight forward, intuitive real time monitoring feature in which components of various types and configurations can be monitored on a single format and based upon data acquired from the components.
The present invention provides a real time monitoring approach for industrial control applications designed to respond to these needs. The approach makes use of components which are adapted to either control or monitor operational parameters of the system, including application of electrical power to loads such as motors. Programmable components include memory objects which are dedicated to storing specific types of information, such as system designation, component designation, component function, component location, and so forth. Based upon the stored data from each component, and upon sensed data from the component, a monitoring station accesses information via a data network and compiles user viewable representations of monitored data. The user may configure the data in various ways, depending upon preferences and any defaults which may be associated with the particular components.
The monitoring technique offers the potential to monitor a wide range of components in a standardized format. The format may include textual descriptions of the particular component or components, as well as visual displays or images of the component for facilitating recognition. The representations may also include virtual gages, meters, strip chart readouts, and the like displaying both current levels of key parameters, and historical levels of the parameters over desired periods. The representations may further include textual indications of configuration settings, such as current levels, voltages, time periods for delays, and so forth. The data may be polled in real time and displayed for all of the components, with the particular information displayed in the representations being adapted in accordance with the nature and function of the components in the system.